The Quiet Things
by ammeehhh
Summary: Series of Drabbles about what was going on in our favorite characters' heads during our favorite scenes. Randomly chosen, but let me know if there is one you'd like to see. Please review! First Fanfiction
1. Wrong Choice

"I once asked him who he wanted standing next to him when all his dreams came true," she says. Brooke obviously has no clue where this conversation is going, but Peyton needs to say this. She needs to hear herself say what her heart won't let her contemplate.

"He said you, Brooke." This seems to surprise her. She's not sure why it surprises Brooke, but it does. It hurts her to think about that day and the way Lucas was so entirely sure that Brooke was who he wanted to be with. It hurt when all she could think of was how much she loved him.

"Why are you telling me this?" Brooke inquires. Why is she telling her this? Why couldn't she just shut up for once and let things be? She settles for the truth. Because I love him. Because he loves you. Because I don't want to fight anymore. Because we used to tell each other everything.

"I would have given anything to hear him say me," Peyton states. Maybe if Brooke understands what she has in Lucas, love, happiness, everything Peyton wishes she had, she won't hurt him anymore. She wants Lucas to be happy, even if it's not with her, even if it's someone else that makes him that way.


	2. Malice in Wonderland

**Malice in Wonderland**

As soon as Peyton saw his face, she knew he was out for blood. She had seen Dan Scott mad before. At Nathan. At Deb. But never had she seen him like this. Murderous. He was going to kill Lucas. She had to do something.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed.

"Let him go!" she yelled.

He held onto Lucas' neck though. Refusing to let him breathe.

"He didn't try to kill you! He saved your life!"

And just like that Lucas was on the floor breathing heavily, but breathing nonetheless. She spilled the beans. Told Dan the one thing Lucas never wanted him to know.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I had to tell him."

She wanted him to understand why she had done it. In his eyes, she could see that he did. He knew she had saved his life. She was kind of proud of that.

"I pulled you out of that fire. But I should have left you there," Lucas grounded out.

He could have. He probably should have. But if he had, he wouldn't be Lucas Scott. He would be Dan.

"A bigger man would have," Dan said.

She had never met a more ungrateful man. One look at Lucas' face told her he was thinking the same thing. She remembers that day for two reasons. It was that day she vowed never to see that look on Lucas' face again. And it was the day that she realized she hated Dan Scott.


	3. Suffering

"We were in love."

It was a simple statement, but held so much pain. Peyton knew it hurt Lucas to know she had loved someone other than him, and that the same person had loved her back just as much. She knew it hurt him and she hated herself for being the one to hurt him. They had been through so much together and she did love him with all her heart, but she couldn't lie to him any longer about the relationship she and Julian had shared.

They were in love. Not the kind of love she and Lucas had, but the kind she had for Nathan, the kind she had for Jake. It was sweet and innocent love, the kind you saw in most movies and fairytales. It was far different from what she and Lucas shared, love that was deep and painful, but intoxicating and addicting, and impossible to give up or live without. It's the kind that would have been enough for her six years ago.

Had she met Julian in her junior year, before she knew Lucas, before she loved him, he would have been enough for her. He would have been all she needed. But she didn't meet Julian in high school. She met him much later, after her heart had been bruised and battered and stepped on. She was already addicted then, clinging to Lucas' book, to the love she once had. Frankly, Julian didn't stand a chance.

Seeing the pain in Lucas' eyes, as he stood before her, clutching a picture of her and Julian was almost enough to send her over the edge. She wanted to cry, to beg him to understand. But a part of her, the part that hadn't changed since high school, had been waiting for this moment.

It was the same part that had curled in her stomach before Jake came back. It was the part she thought died when Lucas almost married Lindsay. It was the part that wanted him to fight for her. She had fought so hard for him. She almost lost Brooke and Haley to be with him. She left Jake and Jenny because she loved him. She fought hard, and this part of her wanted him to fight just as hard to be with her.

The silence swirled around them. Neither spoke or moved. Peyton couldn't find the strength to look him in the eyes. Lucas couldn't find the nerve to yell at her. They were stuck in the same old battle they had been in since high school, a battle of emotion. Peyton wondered if she would ever make it back from the ledge that seemed ever-present in her life, and if she did, whether or not Lucas make it back with her. At times like these, she wasn't so sure either of them would.

_**Author's Note:**_ Okay so the ending is kinda rushed, but I wanted to get something up before I turned 80 lol...working on the next chapter...please review! =)


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